Weicker Says No To Running For Vice President

Governor Says No To National Campaign

June 06, 1992|By DAVID LIGHTMAN; Washington Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON — Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. on Friday predicted a strong comeback for likely presidential nominee Bill Clinton, but also said he would reject an offer by Clinton, or anyone else, to run for vice president.

Or at least it seemed that way.

Appearing on the taping of "John McLaughlin's One on One," which will not appear on Connecticut television this weekend but may be available to viewers who pick up Boston and New York public television, Weicker said unequivocally he wanted no place on anyone's ticket.

"I would decline any offer of a vice presidency, whether it came from Clinton, whether it came from Bush, whether it came from Perot," he told McLaughlin.

Weicker, one of the country's two governors not affiliated with a political party, has been mentioned as a possible Perot running mate.

Thursday, when questioned by reporters in Hartford, Weicker refused to close the door on the possibility. Friday, he slammed it shut -- and then opened it a crack.

"I have absolutely no thought at all of vice presidential bids or being vice president of the United States," he said. "I've got all I can handle in the state of Connecticut. I don't have to go rooting around for trouble in the other 49 states."

After the taping, at WRC-TV studios in Washington, Weicker was asked whether he had once and for all rejected a spot on a national ticket.

He said he had not gone quite that far, and that one had to look at the context of the question that led to his answer that he would decline an offer.

McLaughlin's question was, "I understand from what you're saying that if you were offered the vice presidency on a Perot ticket, you would decline it."

That is when Weicker said, "I would decline any offer . . ." The interviewer pressed the point, asking Weicker what he would do if offered.

Weicker reflected.

"I really have not thought about it," the governor said.

McLaughlin found that hard to believe. "I understand that," Weicker said, "but I'm squaring off with you right now, OK? And the answer is, I have not thought about it."

Weicker said no one from the Perot camp has approached him about the idea, and Perot spokesmen have said little about their potential choice.

Campaign Chairman Tom Luce, asked in a recent interview what Perot was seeking in a running mate, said Perot wanted "someone who can be a president, who can replace him," as well as someone who has demonstrated leadership and someone "who can make things happen.

"It's fine to say he's for choice. I'm for choice. He's for gun control; I'm for gun control. But, I mean, there's a great panorama of issues which have got to be addressed.

"I don't put my imprimatur on things or people that I don't know anything about," he said.

In 1988, Weicker, then running as the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat, backed Bush.

This time, Weicker said he liked Bush's experience, but was "nervous" about the president's "being captured by the far, far right wing of the Republican Party. He has some good instincts, good foreign policy, but I think he's been weak on domestic policy."

Weicker saved his strongest praise for Clinton, who lags third in some national polls and ran well behind Perot and Bush in the latest Courant/Connecticut Poll.

The governor said Clinton showed "a lot of promise" and could stage a strong comeback.

"I think the guy's taken an awful lot of unfair knocks during the course of this process," Weicker said. "I would hope maybe people will start to listen to what he has to say as to matters of substance."

Clinton's ideas have not been widely heard, Weicker said, and if Perot fades, "I would say Clinton is going to be the vehicle for change.

"If I were a betting man right now," Weicker said, "I would like the odds and the return of the odds on Bill Clinton."

The governor was also asked during the program whether he planned to run for re-election in 1994.

"I think probably the odds would indicate as being against it," he said, though he added, "I haven't closed the door on any possibility."

Weicker said he was leaning against another run because he has young children and, "I want to have a little fun out of life." Also, he said, government needs "to keep new blood coming into the system."

"I think all of Connecticut is rebounding by virtue of the fact that we have faced up to reality," Weicker said. "We once again have pride in ourselves in Connecticut -- that we want the best, we're willing to go ahead and pay for it."

The half-hour syndicated program is not broadcast by any Connecticut station. But it will be shown by WNET, Channel 13, in New York -- which is available to some viewers in Connecticut over

the air and via cable -- at 9:30 a.m. today.

Also, WGBX, Channel 44, in Boston, will broadcast the program Sunday at 9:30 p.m. WGBX spokesmen Friday could not say whether the station is received by any Connecticut viewers